Bier is goed voor de gezondheid (Gazet van Antwerpen)

[Eduard]

Dit las ik vandaag op het Internet, een artikel overgenomen uit de Gazet van Antwerpen. Toch mooi dat we er nóg een reden bij gekregen hebben!

Bier is goed voor de gezondheid

Van rode wijn is al langer bekend dat het goed is voor de gezondheid, mits het met mate genuttigd wordt. Maar ook bier blijkt goed te zijn voor de mens en kan zelfs kanker helpen voorkomen.

De Amerikaanse wetenschapper Fred Stevens geeft aan dat hop, één van de basiselementen van bier, de stof xanthohumol bevat. Deze stof helpt de ontwikkeling van borst-, baarmoeder- en prostaatkankercellen te voorkomen. "Dit is één van de belangrijkste vormen van chemopreventie die we tot dusver hebben ontdekt, en de enige manier om deze stof binnen te krijgen is door het drinken van bier", geeft Stevens aan.

Ook de Britse onderzoeker Jonathan Powell is enthousiast over het gele goud. Hij concludeerde na een onderzoek bij enkele duizenden patiënten dat bier een bron van silicone is, dat een belangrijke rol speelt bij het vormen en versterken van botten in ons lichaam.

Bron: http://www.gva.be/nieuws/Wetenschap/default.asp?art={4B5271DA-7549-42AF-A8CA-081078D502D5}

[MO]

en in de wallstreet Journal stond ook al een heel verhaal dat ons sterkt in ons alcoholisme (euh, liefde voor hop bedoel ik)

Study brews on health benefits of hops (16 November 2005)
 
Beer lovers may know hops as the ingredient that gives their brew its bitter taste. But hop plants also contain substances with potential health benefits, possibly including cancer prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, according to researchers.

Raising a glass to good health might not be enough, though. The concentration of these substances in beer is relatively low. To get amounts needed for any health benefit, you would have to drink large quantities of beer regularly -- which would carry its own health risks.

What's more, cancer specialists say too little is known about the effectiveness of hops substances because the research so far has only been in laboratories, not in patient studies. Also, even moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages can increase the risk of breast cancer, while excessive consumption can raise the risk of cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus and liver, according to Michael Thun, the head of epidemiologic research at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta.

"There's been no evidence whatever to imply that drinking reduces cancer risk," Dr. Thun said. "All of the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption . . . pertain to cardiovascular conditions or related conditions such as diabetes." He was referring to studies suggesting that moderate alcohol consumption can lower the risk for heart disease.

Still, some researchers say it might be possible to make beer with high levels of the substances in hops, so that one could drink beer in moderation and gain the health benefits. Or, the substances could be isolated and made into a capsule taken as a dietary supplement.

Hops are the flowers of hop plants and contain xanthohumol. Scientists have known about xanthohumol for almost a century, but it is only in recent years that research has begun to flesh out the substance's potential health benefits, says Fred Stevens, a chemistry professor at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Prof. Stevens and his colleagues began researching hops in the 1990s. The work has been funded by the Hop Research Council, which supports studies about hops production and is funded by major brewers such as Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Hops supplier Hopsteiner also has supported the studies, according to a May 2004 article about hops research by Prof. Stevens and Jonathan Page of Canada's National Research Council, for the academic journal Phytochemistry.

Hop growers are interested in the research for its potential to widen their market. But they aren't banking on it. "I think at this time it's probably a little too far out there in the future to really hang your hat on it," said Doug MacKinnon of Hop Growers of America in Yakima, Wash. "It has a lot of potential. There's no conclusive evidence just yet."

Prof. Stevens's research, which is based on test-tube studies, indicates xanthohumol can act as a "cancer chemopreventive agent," or something that prevents the onset of cancer. Studies show it also can inhibit tumor growth at an early stage. But there is no evidence to suggest it can act as a therapy for people who already have cancer.

Xanthohumol works by stopping substances known as procarcinogens -- which are found in substances such as cigarette smoke or cooked meat -- from converting within the body to cancer-causing agents, or carcinogens. Or, if a carcinogen has already been formed in the body, xanthohumol can trigger natural enzymes that convert carcinogens into harmless byproducts.

"These hop compounds inhibit that metabolic conversion," Prof. Stevens said. "Potentially, you inhibit carcinogen formation."

The findings were based in part on test-tube experiments with cancer cells from the breast, colon and ovaries. Researchers also studied how xanthohumol was absorbed by lab animals; they found it was absorbed poorly, which would present a challenge in delivering a concentration sufficient to have a health benefit.

Xanthohumol is a flavonoid, which is a chemical group found in various plants. Flavonoids have been linked to beneficial health effects. For instance, some research has indicated that flavonoids found in dark chocolate can improve blood-vessel function, which can guard against heart disease.

Xanthohumol belongs to a subgroup known as prenylflavonoids, and other types in hops may also have health benefits. One is essentially a plant version of estrogen that has potential for use in preventing or treating menopausal conditions such as hot flashes and post-menopausal osteoporosis, Prof. Stevens and his colleagues found.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently received a five-year, $5 million grant from the federal government's National Institutes of Health to study whether botanical ingredients in herbal supplements, including hops, can help relieve menopausal symptoms, the Associated Press reported.

Also, the German Cancer Research Center is studying xanthohumol's potential to ward off breast cancer.

Applying this research is another matter. Prof. Stevens notes that beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice in many parts of the world, and increasing the concentration of xanthohumol in beer might be one way to deliver health benefits. This could be done either by adding the substance to the brewing process or genetically altering hops so they contain higher levels of xanthohumol.

But whether mass-market brewers would actually do this is another question. Anheuser-Busch, for one, hasn't done any research into the topic and has no plans to do any, spokeswoman Carol Clark said.

Prof. Stevens cautions that the health benefits of moderate amounts of beer must be balanced against the health problems associated with alcohol abuse.

A similar concern is raised by Dr. Thun of the American Cancer Society. He said the notion that an ingredient in beer might have health benefits could provide a "rationalization for people to drink more. Alcohol is a very special case because people don't drink it for health reasons. They drink it because they like it. The health reasons become a rationale for behavior not motivated by health."

Prof. Stevens also cautions against shady marketers. Herbal preparations containing hops are being marketed for breast enlargement in women, "without proper testing of efficacy and toxicity," Prof. Stevens and Mr. Page wrote in their Phytochemistry article.

Speaking generally, Dr. Thun said there is the potential that artificially higher concentrations of a food or beverage ingredient might have toxic side effects. Also, he noted dietary supplements arising from this research might not face the same scrutiny from federal safety regulators that pharmaceutical or biotechnology products face.

"The question of what actually happens in a human, and whether there are toxic effects as well as potential health benefits, and what the balance of those is, all of those questions sort of aren't addressed," Dr. Thun said.

Bron: The Wall Street Journal

[Gio]

en ik las dit artikel:

Een glas bier is goed voor de nieren

 
Wie matig alcohol consumeert, sterkt zijn nierfunctie. Tot dat besluit kwam een Duitse onderzoeksgroep. Die baseerde zich op gegevens van de Amerikaanse 'Physicians Health Study' die betrekking had op de gezondheid van elfduizend Amerikaanse artsen. Onderzocht werd welke uitwerking alcohol op de nieren heeft.

Bij mannen die zeven glazen consumeerden per week, was de concentratie keratinine lager dan bij geheelonthouders. Keratinine is een eiwit dat een idee geeft over de nierfunctie: hoe lager de waarde, hoe beter. Bij matige alcoholconsumptie is de keratinine-waarde opvallend gunstiger dan bij zeer lage of hoge alcoholconsumptie.

De Duitse studie bevestigt daarmee dat een matige alcoholconsumptie, en dus ook een matige bierconsumptie, de nieren goed doet. Eerder Fins onderzoek bracht aan het licht dat één glas bier per dag het risico op nierstenen met veertig procent vermindert. Als matige consumptie geldt: maximum één liter bier per dag voor mannen en maximum een halve liter voor vrouwen.

[Johannes]

maximum één liter bier per dag voor mannen en maximum een halve liter voor vrouwen.

Eén liter?? woow, dat haal ik lang niet! Volgens de definitie ben je dan wel alcoholist maar goed, dat is dus gezond  ik loop nu naar de koelkast